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POLITICO 44

Top Republicans, inspired by President Barack Obama’s recent drop in popularity, are newly optimistic about their chances of challenging him in 2012 and are focusing on some surprising names.

Some major donors and GOP strategists have approached Joe Scarborough, the host of MSNBC’s "Morning Joe,” about a national run, according to party sources.

Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, the Republican nominee in 1996, told POLITICO that he would like to see Army four-star Gen. David Petraeus — the head of the U.S. Central Command, which includes Iraq and Afghanistan — run for president as a latter-day Ike.

Some fiscal conservatives, convinced that they’ll never “out-Obama Obama,” are sold on a solid-but-unflashy choice: Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) was able to generate some early buzz — and news coverage — simply by telegraphing plans for a quick trip to Iowa later this year.

Then there is freshman Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, a former Chattanooga mayor who cut a high profile as an opponent of the Obama administration’s auto industry strategy and keynoted the South Carolina GOP’s annual dinner in May.

“Several GOP candidates are coming to the view that the way to run against Obama is not to out-Obama Obama with flash or sizzle,” said Dan Senor, an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a Bush administration veteran. “They want to go in the opposite direction: smart, back-to-basics, competence.”

It’s a fool’s errand to appraise whether any of these candidates — or the half-dozen other top-tier GOP possibilities — stand a chance in 2012. And top GOP strategists say they recognize that history gives them little chance of unseating Obama if the economy improves noticeably.

Still, there’s been an unmistakable surge in the behind-the-scenes chatter as Obama's poll numbers continue to fall — and it reflects a party that is at least contemplating an out of-the-box approach to 2012.

As much as anything, it’s an expansive search for more options than there are at present, one that could yield a candidate as unorthodox as Scarborough, the youthful former congressman-turned-cable-TV-personality, or as staid as Daniels, the former Office of Management and Budget director nicknamed “The Blade” for his budget-cutting acumen.

The common denominator is that Republican operatives no longer assume — as they did in the opening months of Obama’s presidency — that 2012 will be a fruitless cycle for their party. The comparisons to 1964, a nadir for the GOP, are now being reassessed.

Liz Cheney, a State Department official in the Bush administration, said it is "absolutely" possible for a Republican to win the presidency in 2012.

"The independents who were so critical will come back to the Republican Party when they realize, as they're coming to realize, that we're the ones that can be trusted both on the economy and on national security," she said. "So the substance is a lot more important than: Is it this person? Is it that person?"

One such person floated in a column in The Wall Street Journal is none other than her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney. That's not happening, though it’s sometimes hard to tell with his frequent appearances and sharp political rhetoric.

When asked if it’s even plausible, she replied: "I think no. I mean, I'd love for it to. But no."

Most of the media attention to date has centered on former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the GOP vice presidential nominee in 2008; Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who was greeted with interest as he courted donors and operatives in New York City this week; former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who lost his quest for last year’s nomination to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.); and others who have flirted with runs before but took a pass, notably former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).

This would be just what the country needs. A cold warrior who created the strategy that led to the deaths of a thousand American soldiers and a talk show commentator who rarely gets anything completely correct. Brilliant, neither one understands the needs of the common man.

Joe Scar..something or other? Who the heck is he? You gotta be kidding. Funny thing. I said the same thing about Barack Hussein Obama. I thought it was freaking hilarious, now the joke is on the entire nation and no one is laughing.

Petraeus is a great American hero and with his military background would make a good President. We'd have no doubt our country was great that we where good people and that our troops woud be getting full support in the War. From all I have heard though he's not interested in politics.

Left hates him becasue he is an American Hero, he does support our troops, he is an American soldier, and his strategy proved them 100% wrong.

.........

Scarborough?..I don't believe that one. That sounds like something you heard from someone that heard it from someone that made it up.

Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, the Republican nominee in 1996, told POLITICO that he would like to see Army four-star Gen. David Petraeus — the head of the U.S. Central Command, which includes Iraq and Afghanistan — run for president as a latter-day Ike.

[cue screeching brake sounds here] Bob Dole?????? Can we please not have Bob Dole involved here? And Scarborough?....What party are we talking about here?

That is our current problem as well. Look at all the crap that has been shoved down our throats during this current administration. Elite Dems have no ideas what the common American needs, wants or desires.